Carlin Week 13

Our reading this week focused on hegemonic masculinity in sports and focused on the portrayal of Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan by the media. Hegemonic masculinity, the author writes, is the connecting of masculinity to toughness and competitiveness, the subordination of women and the marginalization of gay men. The author writes that there are five features of hegemonic masculinity: physical force and control, occupational achievement, familial patriarchy, frontiersmanship and heterosexuality. The reading states that arguably no other institution has influenced our perception of masculinity than sports.

The first examination of Ryan by the author is that Ryan's status as a power pitcher was "embellished" by the media. As time went on, Ryan was portrayed by the media as a power pitcher who pitched through pain, furthering the emphasis on masculinity. This referred to the first feature of hegemonic masculinity: physical force and control.

The author also writes that an emphasis on his workout routine over time showed that the media reaffirmed the Protestant work ethic. This referred to the the second feature, occupational achievement, and portrayed him as a hard worker. The media at times published and featured his entire workout routine in order to show his work ethic.

Ryan was also portrayed as a family patriarch, the third feature of hegemonic masculinity in the media. Particularly, the author writes, the media portrayed Ryan as the breadwinner, reaffirming male-female relationships and roles. This was shown through stories early in his career where he talks about his struggle to feed his family.

Ryan was also represented as a "cowboy" and frontiersman during his career. His hometown is in rural Texas, which gave the media fuel to portray him as a Western cowboy on the frontier. For example, the author cites a story where one of his games was described as a "Shootout at the O.K. Corral."

Finally, Ryan was presented throughout his career as an "acceptable image" of male sexuality. The author writes that Ryan's physique was commented on often by sportswriters, showing that the media thought Ryan served as an acceptable sexual image on a man.